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Famed Ford racing driver Parnelli Jones is perhaps best known for his amazing victory in the 1970 Trans Am series. That year Jones helped his team to win the Trans Am Championship with his driving in the Boss 302 Mustang. But Jones was a multi-talented racer who also liked to try his hand at Indy racing, as well as the Baja 1000. In 1971 Jones had a custom racer built to look like a Ford Bronco, and called it “Big Oly” after his main sponsor, Olympia Beer.
We’re not sure what happened to the real Big Oly, but an authentic-looking tribute truck has found its way on eBay…and we wouldn’t mind having a go at her.
Make no mistake though; despite having the classic looks of the original Big Oly, this modern day tribute truck has plenty of advanced technologies not available back in 1971. For example, the Dart 351W block, 11:1 ROSS pistons, a Peterson 5-stage dry sump system, or Comp Cams’ FAST fuel injection system.
The brainchild of Marshall Madruga, who fell in love with the original, this project began ay back in 2007. Since then it has appeared on numerous websites and cover stories. He is asking $535,000 for this one-of-a-kind tribute to a classic Parnelli Jones racer. For that kind of money though, you’d pretty much HAVE to race it, don’t you agree?
